Chicago, eating casually but thoughtfully (Washington: licenses, food, rated)

[Vlajos]

from the Washington Post

Postcard from Tom: In Chicago, eating casually but thoughtfully - The Washington Post

[marothisu]

This is what I like about here. There are places that offer really awesome food and you don't need to go dressed in a suit. You can wear whatever you want basically (to a certain degree) and get fine dining quality food basically. There's a number of places like it here and I hope it continues.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

This is what I like about here. There are places that offer really awesome food and you don't need to go dressed in a suit. You can wear whatever you want basically (to a certain degree) and get fine dining quality food basically. There's a number of places like it here and I hope it continues.

Yep, we tried yusho a few months ago and loved it.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Yep, we tried yusho a few months ago and loved it.

I need to get on that, and many many other places (like Longman & Eagle). Sounds like a great place though.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I need to get on that, and many many other places (like Longman & Eagle). Sounds like a great place though.

I've had cocktails at Longman & Eagle, but haven't eaten there. Thanks for the reminder.

[Aleking]

Thought yusho was one of the most overrated places I've been lately. Maybe it was an off night.

PQM is outstanding.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Aleking

Thought yusho was one of the most overrated places I've been lately. Maybe it was an off night.

PQM is outstanding.

Maybe it was, we had some friends from Italy and Portugal in, they loved it as much as we did.

I have to get to PQM.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I have to get to PQM.

Same. It looks to be on the same level as Pastoral Artisan Cheese & Wine. Wouldn't be surprised if it was even better.

[Attrill]

PQM is excellent. I think Paul Kahan best exemplifies the Chicago casual evolution. His long transition of Blackbird > Avec > Publican > Big Star > PQM sums it up really well. One of the great things is that these places aren't just casual, they're also relatively inexpensive for the quality of the food. My wife and I regularly do all out dinners with plenty of drinks at Publican, Longman & Eagle, The Bristol, Yusho, or Rootstock for under $150. Similar meals in NYC, SF or Boston set us back around $250. There are also plenty of other decent options for much less. You can make a cheap solid meal out of bar food at places like Small Bar or Scofflaw.

One thing I think that gets overlooked is how the city's crackdown on liquor licenses helped to spur a lot of this on in the 90's. Since the only way to open a bar in many areas was to also serve food it created a lot of opportunities for experimentation, and places like Charlie Trotter's and Frontera provided talented young chefs to run the places. Liberal BYOB laws also helped spur it along.

[gichicago]

I miss Chicago's "experimental" food scene, and am eager to go back to try these and similar places that have opened up since i left. There's a lot of coverage about food trucks/street food, simple and easy, authentic cuisine from whatever country, but I like going out and being presented with something complex, unique, that there is no way I'd make at home.